VFK Honey Quest 2012
Description The month of September is National Honey Month! For the entire month, we celebrate bees and their amazing natural sweetener - honey!! For centuries, bees have been kept and harvested in much the same way as they are today. Honey also has earned a reputation over the centuries for more than its sweet taste, it is also valued for having medicinal properties! We even incorporate bees into our daily speech, with sayings and expressions that stem from our long association with bees. So let's buzz on to today's quest, and find out some interesting information about the wonderful bee and its honey! Your reward for completing this quest will be 1,000 credits, and a Glass Honey Jar! Prizes Questions 1. For many centuries, people have collected honey! They originally would find hives of wild bees, break them open, and harvest honey. The oldest evidence of collecting honeycombs and honey dates back to 7,000 B.C. This evidence comes from what source? * Ancient writings on a scroll * An ancient cave painting * Ancient drawings on an animal skin * Ancient writings carved in stone 2. The cave painting was found in Valencia, Spain. The picture shows two men collecting honey and honeycombs. Many writings through the centuries document the long relationship of people and bees. People recognized the industriousness of the bee, as well as the value and benefits of their honey. Go to Audubon's Wild Woods in Western Age, and say: "What's the buzz?" 3. The remarkable ability of bees to turn nectar into honey has caused people to attribute special abilities to bees. These special properties have resulted in bees, and their hives, to be used as signs and emblems over time. Important people such as royalty and religious leaders have used bee symbols as their own. In 300 B.C., a bee symbol was even used on coins in what ancient Greek city? * Byzantium * Amphipolis * Imbros * Ephesus 4. Some bees are loners, such as mason bees and bumblebees, which live in small colonies. Many other types of bees are social insects, and have a complex social organization in their beehive colonies. A colony or hive can consist of 30,000 to 60,000 female workers, 500 to 1,000 drones (males), and one Queen. The Queen is not only the largest bee in the hive, but is the most important. The primary focus of the workers in the colony is to care for the queen. Go to the Waterfall in Australia, and say: "If you let the bee be, the bee will let you be!" 5. The main work of the hive is done by worker bees, which are all females. Worker bees do not lay eggs. For their short life, the worker bees clean the nursery, feed the bee larvae, gather nectar, make the beeswax comb and guard the entrance. They even fan the hive with their wings to cool the hive if the weather is hot. The queen can lay as many as 2,000 to 3,000 eggs a day. How long can a queen bee live? * About one year * About two years * About three years or more * None of the above 6. If a hive loses its queen bee, the worker bees can even create emergency queen cells to make a new queen. Worker bees also make repairs and plug holes in the hive using "bee glue" made from resins of trees and bushes. The workers can even "tell" other bees in the hive where to find food. They rapidly vibrate their wings and perform a "waggle" dance, to tell the direction of a food source they have found. Go to the Space Pirate Ship Battle Outer Lobby in Space Age, and say: "As busy as a bee!" 7. Bees are not only industrious, but they are speedy! They can fly at around 15 miles per hour. They store the nectar that they collect in one of their two stomachs, their honey stomach. A bee must visit about 1,500 flowers to fill their honey stomach. When their honey stomach is full, it can weigh nearly as much as the bee. In order to make a pound of honey, bees travel to flowers, then back to the hive to deposit the nectar. What is the practice of keeping bees called? * Apiculture * Astronomy * Aviculture * Agriculture 8. Beehives produce many products. One of the most useful is beeswax. The worker bees produce beeswax through glands on their abdomens to build their six sided honeycomb cells. For every pound of beeswax, bees must eat on average 8.4 pounds of honey. Beeswax is used in candles, cosmetics, and furniture polish. Go to the Victorian House in Victorian Age, and say: "It is the bee's knees!" 9. Over the centuries, honey has been relied upon to soothe many illnesses. It has been employed as a natural antiseptic to dress wounds, treat burns and protect cuts. It is used as a remedy for sore throats, digestive problems, and even to treat allergies. Modern research is still being done on honey to discover why it has healing properties. What two properties of honey do the flowers which provided the nectar, determine? * Sweetness and stickiness * Thickness and heaviness * Color and flavor * Crystallization and freezing points 10. Sometimes, for a number of reasons, a queen bee will leave the hive and bring with it a swarm of bees that are looking for a new location. If you see a swarm of bees near your home, the first thing you should do is inspect the insects to be sure they are bees. When you are sure it is a bee swarm, call a local beekeeper to come and collect the swarm. Go to the Fireworks lobby in the Victorian Age, and say: "Have a Happy Honey Month!" Answers 1. An ancient cave painting 2. Go to Audubon's Wild Woods in Western Age, and say: "What's the buzz?" 3. Ephesus 4. Go to the Australian Waterfall, and say: "If you let the bee be, the bee will let you be!" 5. About three years or more 6. Go to the Space Pirates Ship Battle Outer Lobby in Space Age, and say: "As busy as a bee!" 7. Apiculture 8. Go to the Victorian House in Victorian Age, and say: "It is the bee's knees!" 9. Color and flavor 10. Go to the 4th of July Fireworks lobby in the Victorian Age, and say: "Have a Happy Honey Month!" Category:Quests